Deepa Agarwal

www.deepaagarwal.com

Hallowed Texts, Irreverent Readers:

Translating Classics for Children

Chandrakantaby Devakinandan Khatri

An adult reader might pick up a classic because of its literary reputation.

The child reader will only accept a book because it offers a reading experience as appealing as her usual choice.

The selection of the title, its contemporary relevance and the probability of making it readable in the target language become important factors.

The translation of classics is also more daunting because the translator has to rely solely on her own judgement—the author cannot be consulted when in doubt.

We all know that no version can claim to be perfect, but the status of such works guarantees that each attempt will be subject to the severest scrutiny.

The challenges of presenting classics to child readers

Could children accustomed to a wide range of writing in English relate to a work, well-loved in its time, still extremely popular in the original Hindi, but among a set of readers whose reading palate was quite different from theirs?

Unlike many other classic works, very few English versions of Chandrakanta are in circulation. Was there something in the language and style that posed a greater challenge than other works of its time?

Other issues

A mystery story published in serial form between 1888 and 1891, it is considered the first modern novel in Hindi.

It was the first runaway bestseller in the contemporary sense of the word—the Harry Potter of its time.

The book was published serially in short chapters or ‘bayans’ and the public eagerly awaited their release.

A trailblazer, Chandrakanta spawned a genre of novels of suspense and adventure in Hindi as well.

Though written without any literary pretensions, it contributed greatly to the growth of the Devnagari script, besides nurturing a new generation of readers in a country where literacy was abysmally low.

The book and its sequel Chandrakanta Santati (Chandrakanta’s Offspring) were so popular that many Hindustani speakers who were only conversant with the Perso-Arabic script used widely at the time, learned Devnagari in order to read them.

Chandrakanta ’s place in the annals of Hindi literature

Chandrakanta is a work of tilism, an Arabic word said to have its root in the Greek word telesma meaning religious rite, from which the English ‘talisman’ is also derived.

A tilism is usually described as a magical structure and in popular parlance the adjective tilismi has come to mean something mysterious and supernatural.

The tilism factor

Chandrakanta draws partly on the Indo-Islamic dastaan or storytelling tradition popular in Northern India at that time.

The great Hindi writer Prem Chand has observed that it was inspired by the Urdu translation of Faizi’s famous Persian work, Tilism-e-Hoshruba.

The mysterious ruins full of marvels—princes, princesses, sorcerers, and the intriguing personas of the aiyaar and aiyaara—magician tricksters whose machinations dictate most of the action, can be found in Hoshruba, which was compiled from oral retellings by two famous storytellers in Lucknow, Muhammad Husain Jah and Ahmed Husain Qamar.

It is sometimes described as a Hinduised version of Hoshruba and displays the influence of the Dastaan-e-Amir Hamza which inspired Hoshruba, as well.

Sources of inspiration

The dastaangoi tradition

The beautiful princess, the dashing prince, the villains who scheme and plot to keep them apart, their aiyaars and those opposed to them.

Unexplainable supernatural happenings, and the mysterious ruins which turn out to be a tilismi trap.

The conventions of the dastaan in Chandrakanta

Khatri, however, does more than transport these traditional Perso-Arab narrative devices to the real region of Varanasi-Chunar and people his tale with Hindu rajas and ranis, rajkumars and rajkumaris, Rajput and Brahmin aiyaars, sadhus and yogis.

His novel is far from realistic, yet his kings, princes, princesses, aiyaars and aiyaaras do not appear to be creatures that belong in a fantasy world.

And while his main protagonists are part of a feudal system, the way they interact with each other and their underlings is removed from the rigid protocol of a courtly society.

In this sense, despite his assertion that he wrote merely to entertain, Khatri’s novel reflects the middle class values of a rapidly changing era and this could be one of the reasons that endeared it to his countless readers.

What does Khatri add to the dastaan tradition?

Khatri consciously moves away from the older narratives by relying less on the razzle-dazzle of the supernatural than Hoshruba and Dastaan-e-Amir Hamza do.

The astonishing objects in the tilism are projected as mechanical marvels rather than the result of wizardry.

The powders and pills that appear so magical are not powered by any mantra-tantra but are explained as effective drugs.

Indeed, for these reasons some have attempted to describe Khatri as a pioneering science fiction writer.

What else is different?

Khatri has also stated that his creative roots lay in the older tradition of the ancient Indian Sanskrit classic Kathasaritsagar.

In an article titled ‘Aiyaari’ he mentions the Sanskrit play Mudrarakshasa and the exploits of Chanakya who achieved his ends using his wits rather than physical force.

Other sources of inspiration

Kathasaritasagar (Ocean of Stories) and Mudrarakshasa (Rakshasa’s Ring)

The material for his work came from real life too. As a forest contractor he encountered many mysterious

looking ruins in the forests, some of which contained secret passages, trapdoors, concealed doors operated by mechanical devices and tunnels like the ones that crop up again and again in Chandrakanta and his later works Chandrakanta Santati and Bhootnath.

The characters of Raja Surendra Singh, the ruler of Naugarh, and his son Virendra are supposedly modelled on the then ruler of Banaras—Ishwari Narayan Singh and his son Prabhu Narayan Singh.

This brings an authenticity to his writing which makes a different kind of impact on the reader.

Real life sources

Prince Virendra Singh of Naugarh is in love with Princess Chandrakanta of Vijaygarh, but their fathers, originally close friends, are now sworn enemies.

This is the result of Krur (Cruel) Singh’s machinations. The evil son of the Vijaygarh prime minister, he has designs on the princess and hopes to usurp the kingdom.

Exposed by Virendra, Krur joins hands with a neighbouring ruler Shivdutt of Chunar, who plans to conquer Vijaygarh and marry the princess himself.

Virendra comes to Raja Jai Singh of Vijaygarh’s aid, defeats Shivdutt in battle but in the meantime enemy aiyaars abduct Chandrakanta and her companion Chapla.

It is discovered that they are trapped in some mysterious ruins that are actually a tilism, and it is foretold that Virendra is the only one who can free the princess.

He achieves his objective after many ingenious twists and turns in the narrative that keep the reader in confusion till the mystery is unravelled.

The story in brief

The labyrinthine but deftly knitted plot and the incredible level of suspense the author has maintained makes this book “unputdownable”.

Despite its fairy tale structure, where his female characters are concerned, Khatri’s narrative deviates from the formula.

The independent minded heroine, Princess Chandrakanta and her fearless companions Chapla and Champa are almost like present-day girls.

While her Prince Charming is trying to break through the tilism, Chandrakanta is not content to play the role of passive victim.

She may weep and appeal to the prince to rescue her, appear to be helpless outwardly, but after traversing the multifarious turns of this maze-like novel we learn that along with her lively companions Chapla and Champa, she has actually been orchestrating his moves.

Its appeal for young readers

The teasing, irreverent exchange between Prince Virendra, Tej Singh and the other aiyaars is not what you might expect between a prince and his attendants, more a contemporary style camaraderie.

The fascinating aiyaars and aiyaaras—magician tricksters, spies, whose manoeuvrings dictate most of the action are a crucial element of the story.

I felt the games of wits they indulge in would provide a lot of entertainment for young readers, not to mention the delightful passages of humorous dialogue.

For the English version to be as readable as the original, this translation could not take the conventional route.

The cultural gap between Hindi and English posed a challenge. The test was greater because the language, an Urdu infused Hindi, belonged

to another period and a modern idiom had to be negotiated. Some condensation and minor restructuring was also required. The original had appeared serially in short chapters, leading to an episodic

structure. Transitions had been omitted, so the chapters were reorganized, gaps in narrative bridged and specifics like geographical location added.

The author’s numerous asides had to be trimmed to maintain the pace of a contemporary mystery.

Dialogues that were repetitive were pruned as well. Great care had to be taken to maintain the core elements of this enthralling

story .

How could the translation be made readable?

Readers’ responses…‘

‘The clash of swords, the magic and the

havoc came alive in the wonderfully

translated Chandrakanta. The excellent

translation by Deepa Agarwal makes it a

must read. The reason I liked this book is

the magical element, the mayhem and

the suspense. If there was a star rating, I

would vote this book a 5 out of 5.’

Pranav Nayar

10 years

Class 6    

Hyderabad

Uttara Kaura, 10 years, Class 5, Noida

‘It’s a very exciting story. The magic and mystery were what I liked best about it. My favourite part was at the end when Chandrakanta was found. I couldn't stop reading the book once I'd started it.’

Rhea Kumar, 16 years, recalls…‘As a kid, I was often upset that there were hardly any fantasy novelsset in an Indian scenario.  While I loved Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, I could never fully relate to them.  For me, Chandrakanta was a dream come true.  While it was set in an ancient time period, I could easily relate to the characters, owing to the book's simple and contemporary language.  Chandrakanta was not preachy and did not contain pages full of moral values, which set it apart fromancient Indian folk or mythological tales.  It is this quality of thebook, along with the breathless action and 'what will happen next‘ moments which makes it a truly ageless book for all young generations of Indians.’

It is the power of the story that has prevailed over the impediments of language and time.

Though we may place Chandrakanta in the category of a hallowed classic, it was considered a highly irreverent work when it was first published.

Writing as Khatri did during a period when nationalistic sentiment was fermenting; many exhorted him to choose patriotic or moral themes to provide role models for the young instead of focusing on supposedly inconsequential matters.

In introducing classics to young readers, it is the selection of the work that is most crucial.

If some judicious adaptation makes the work more accessible to young readers, the translator should not hesitate.

The choice of a text is crucial

Thank you!